Friday, February 24, 2012

Negativity is harming our school system

I have taught for over 20 years in the New Bedford public school system. In that time I have seen many changes. Some have proved valuable and some have fallen short of the mark. As a professional, I have accepted and adapted to them all.

Never have I felt more stressed and less appreciated than I have these last few years. Public education can not and should not be compared to charter or private schools. We are a system that must, and does open our doors to all who enter them. We are told we must produce "No matter what." I remember a time when getting a D student to become a C+ was celebrated. Why has that stopped?

We must be proficient! In my lifetime, I have acquired many friends, I cannot say that they are all proficient, and yet I value and appreciate each and every one of them. I believe we have lost sight of that value in our schools' day-to-day stress of meeting AYP — adequate yearly progress — and state approval.

I believe I have a firm understanding of data-driven teaching (I even appreciate what it has done to improve my own teaching), yet I am frustrated by the time spent testing compared to the time allowed for teaching.

We see more and more children suffer from low and nonexistent self-esteem. We see the effects on our youth, (the increase in bullying, the growing suicide rate, the dropout rate). How can we look at our youth and tell them they are valuable and that their improvement is worth the struggle they have encountered to achieve it, when we are told if they are not proficient we have failed and can be replaced.

The classroom teacher and the public schools have become an easy target. If we have weak links in our system, let's work to strengthen them. If we need support, let's look to provide it. I am tired and stressed, and my own self-esteem has begun to fade. Many of us come to work hours before our paid days begin and put in more hours still at night and during our weekends. We suffer sleepless nights trying to solve our student's problems and increase their scores. We deserve some respect!

New Bedford is a city of change. Our population has changed, our landscape has changed. Our school system has changed. Please admit we have problems. We open our classrooms to all the children who enter them. We teach them day after day. We foster and encourage improvement, we help them gain self worth and values.

Those of us who do this job with honest effort deserve gratitude and respect, not ridicule and disapproval. Help us help these children become the respectful, productive future that we know they can be.

Joyce E. Poirier is an NBEA member

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Prediction: In 2 years the tough former federal prosecutor will also be known as the former mayor of New Bedford.

Anonymous said...

Is Neil Melo the mayor of New Bedford? I didn't know he was a former federal prosecutor.

Anonymous said...

Couldn't have said it better myself, Joyce.

Anonymous said...

She's right. Mayor Lang always supported New Bedford teachers and our district. This new mayor seems to blame us for all the problems that exist in our schools. And he does this while saying he's not pointing the finger at anyone.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Joyce for your honesty. I am too a teacher in New Bedford and I feel that we are being attack left and right. However, I also feel that as teachers we should more united instead I find that we are pointing fingers. I am so think that is outrageous that DESE is telling us how horrible we are doing as a school district based on MCASS scores. I wonder if they could do better if they took over. I am ready for change but I hope is done right.

Anonymous said...

I also agree that pointing fingers is not the answer, especially in the eye of the NEW Mayor. Two years perhaps, but it could be a long two years!

Anonymous said...

I really do not understand why everyone is blaming Mitchell. The problem has been there and has not been dealt with head on. I believe that Mitchell is handling DESE head on and in the end result New Bedford schools and
teachers will be better off!

Anonymous said...

DESE and Mayor Mitchell need to walk in our shoes for awhile and then tell me how to change things. It's easy to make plans on paper.Come see what we deal with. The problems start at home. Get on the parents who don't value education and like the welfare checks!!

Dmurphy said...

good work joyce. thanks.

Anonymous said...

The pointing of fingers has to stop! It is easy to blame but mroe difficult to come up with solutions to the problems. We are all aware of what the issues are, why can't we discuss ways to solve the problems. The mayor and the DESE need to send in a few people from each of their camps, these people need to work as substitute teachers at each of the three levels and in each of the middle schools. If they are anonymous- so that administrators do not know they are actually from the mayors team or the DESE then the results will be actual. Once they see with their own eyes the issues it will be easier to determine adequate solutions! The first solution must be that we need to have discipline and reasonable consequences for negative behavior, when the behavior is out of control, teachers are spending too much time re-directing and dealing with discipline issues and cannot teach. That is the first step! Place administrators in schools that will work towards alleviating the behaviors, not enabling them. Also, lets discuss in school suspension, in a room where students do not want to be, make it a deterrent, not a filed trip like the "success center" at Normandin.